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Draught beer (also called '''draft beer''' or '''tap beer''') is "any beer that is stored in a large container and then transferred to smaller containers when served." It includes Cask Ale and Keg Beer . Recently the term may also be applied to canned or bottled beers that are cold-filtered, or to beers using nitrogen Widgets . This use is controversial among beer purists. [http://www.nherts-camra.org.uk/aims.htm HISTORY OF DRAUGHT Until Joseph Bramah invented the beer engine in 1785, beer was served direct from the cask and carried to the customer. The old English word for carry was ''dragen'' from the German ''tragen'', which developed into a series of related words including drag, draw and draught. By extension the word for carrying or drawing a beer came to mean the serving of the beer, and in some senses the act of drinking or a drink of beer itself regardless of serving method. By the time Bramah's beer pumps became popular the use of the word draught to mean the act of serving beer was well established and transferred easily to beer served via the hand pumps. By the early 20th century draught beer was starting to be served from pressurised containers, and artificial Carbonation was introduced in Britain in 1936 with Watney’s experimental pasteurised beer Red Barrel. Though this method of serving beer did not take hold in Britain until the late 1950s, it did become the favoured method in the rest of Europe where it is known by such terms as ''en pression''. The method of serving beer under pressure then spread to the rest of the world, and by the early 1970s draught beer was almost exclusively beer served under pressure. Shortly after the British consumer organisation CAMRA was founded in 1971 to protect unpressurised beer, they devised the term Real Ale to differentiate beer served from the cask from beer served under pressure. By 2004 the term Real Ale had been expanded to include Bottle Conditioned beer, while the term Cask Ale had become the accepted global term to indicate a beer not served under pressure. KEG DISPENSE See Also: Keg beer In modern beer dispensing, a metal keg is pressurised with Carbon Dioxide (CO2) gas or Nitrogen (N2) gas or a combination of both (known as Beer Gas). Pressure in the keg drives the beer to the dispensing tap, or faucet. The addition of the CO2 in the keg also carbonates the beer giving it ''life'', ''sparkle'' and ''bite''. The CO2 pressure varies depending on the amount of CO2 already in the beer and the keg storage temperature. Occasionally the CO2 gas is blended with nitrogen gas. Nitrogen is used because it displaces CO2 to form a creamy head and a less carbonated taste. This makes the beer taste smooth and gives a foamy appearance. COUNTRY DIFFERENCES Draught beer is usually unpasteurised in America. It is intended to be kept refrigerated between 2°C (35°F) and 4°C (40°F), and consumed quickly after being "tapped". Above 6°C (44°F), a beer may within two days turn sour and cloudy. Below 6°C (44°F), a keg of draft beer should last 20-30 days before it loses its fresh taste and aroma. In the UK draught beer is nearly always pasteurised. The term Keg Beer would imply the beer is pasteurised. Some of the newer microbreweries may offer a nitro keg stout which is filtered but not pasteurised, but the older established breweries do pasteurise. SMOOTH FLOW Smooth flow (also known as '''cream flow''' or just '''smooth''') is the name brewers give to beers pressurised with nitrogen; either from a can or bottle with a Widget , or from a pressurised keg. CANNED AND BOTTLED DRAUGHT Recently the words "draft" and "draught" have been used as marketing terms to describe Canned or Bottle d beers, implying that they taste and appear as beers from a keg. Two examples are Miller Genuine Draft , which is a cold-filtered Lager , and Guinness stout in patented "Draught-flow" cans and bottles. Guinness is an example of beers that use nitrogen Widget s to create a smooth beer with a large foamy head. SEE ALSO |
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